Hey, I'm Merve Koók

I'm a Senior Product Designer who brings clarity to complex, high-stakes B2B products — the kind where getting the design wrong doesn't just frustrate users, it creates real operational risk.

Over the past 7+ years, I've designed data-heavy dashboards and AI-integrated tools for enterprise SaaS, fintech, and healthcare teams, turning tangled, high-stakes workflows into systems people can actually trust. Recent work includes leading design for an internal financial reporting platform that eliminated manual, unaudited data edits for a multi-client enterprise portfolio, and owning a cross-platform authorization experience for a healthcare-adjacent membership site — often while navigating demanding stakeholders and shifting requirements.

I'm at my best where strategy meets empathy: leading discovery, aligning cross-functional stakeholders, and connecting research and design systems into products that hold up under real pressure.

Alongside client work, I mentor emerging designers — I'm a Top 1% mentor on ADPList with 100+ sessions completed, and I run UX Quest, a structured mentorship program for junior and mid-level designers. I also founded the Budapest UX Meetup, bringing the local design community together in person.

Originally from Turkey, now based in Budapest. Open to remote collaborations on meaningful, high-stakes problems worth solving.

Remote | Worldwide

Working with Merve has been such a great experience. She brings so much passion, creativity, and initiative to everything she does — but what really stands out to me is how reliable she is. As a manager, having someone you can always count on makes all the difference, and Merve is that person. She’s the kind of teammate who doesn’t just get things done — she goes above and beyond, supports others, and brings a real sense of partnership to the table. Any design team would be lucky to have her. I can’t recommend Merve enough — she’s an absolute star.

Rick Rocha

DIrect UX Manager | Genesys

01 career highlights

expertise

Product Strategy & UX Craft

Over 6 years designing user-centered digital products across SaaS, CPaaS, AI, blockchain, and e-commerce. Drives product clarity through strong UX strategy, research-backed decisions, and beautifully functional interfaces.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Thrives in multi-disciplinary teams—working closely with product, engineering, and marketing to turn complex needs into elegant, scalable solutions in Agile methodology. Known for turning ambiguity into alignment through systems thinking and clear communication.

Design Systems & Scalable UI

Actively contributes to scalable UI foundations and documentation. Improves speed and consistency across squads by building and maintaining thoughtful design systems.

Mentorship & Community Leadership

ADPList mentor with 80+ designers supported. Known for empowering others through approachable guidance, strong feedback, and community-building— organised multiple in-person UX meetups/workshops in Budapest.

recognition & measurable impact

→ Two times All-Star Award winner at Genesys for excellence in design delivery and team collaboration.
→ Drove widget usage from 4% to 13.38% in one week at UPSY through iterative UX improvements.
→ Delivered NFT dashboard to 1,200+ engaged users within 3 months at CyberBox. 
→ Led UX for an award-winning SaaS voice product at Telesmart (Best Voice/UCaaS Service Innovation, Global Carrier Awards 2021)

02 education & experience

experience

Senior Product Designer

Zenitech, Budapest - HU | Oct 2025 - Present 

Product Designer

Genesys, Budapest - HU | July 2023 - Aug 2025
- All Star Award 2023 & 2024

Product Designer

UPSY, Remote | May 2022 - May 2023

Product Designer

CyberBox, Remote | Jan 2022 - Dec 2022

UX Designer

Telesmart, Remote | Jan 2021 - Mar 2021

volunteering

Mentor, ADPList
Remote | Mar 2024 - Present
- 100+ individual session completed
- Top 1% Mentor Recognition

language

English: C1 | Turkish: C2 | Hungarian: A2

tools

education

Marketing and Commerce

Budapest University of Economics and Business
2020-2023
- Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Holder

Thesis: In depth analysis on the relationship between customer satisfaction and mobile application UX design for market-leading grocery stores in Hungary

Faculty of Science, Mathematics

Akdeniz University 
2010-2016
- Pedagogic Formation Higher Education

course

AI Design Summit
ADPList | 2025

Design Thinking Practitioner
Genesys | 2024

Agile Product Management
Google | 2022

Unity Game Development
Google | 2022

User Experience Design
Google | 2021

UI & Figma Masterclass
Google | 2021

03 projects

Converting Visitors into Buyers: Reimagining an AI Shopping Assistant

I helped redesign an AI-driven shopping assistant and its customer dashboard to improve user experience and increase conversion rates.

We focused on clarity, usability, and seamless feature expansion to support online retailers in turning more visitors into paying customers.

Context-Aware Copilot Framework (MVP): Explorations

Designing an intelligent assistance layer that appears only when needed and understands exactly what you’re working on.

I led the structured exploration of a conversational AI panel built to unify existing AI features across the platform. Starting with the Admin persona, we validated cross-product value while carefully evaluating integration risks within live agent environments. The result: a streamlined, adaptable Copilot experience designed to reduce context switching and increase operational efficiency.

Bringing Clarity to Conversation: Designing Rich Text Messaging for Agents

Designed and shipped rich text messaging features for a live platform used by 2M+ support agents daily; defining behaviour rules for text editor variations, free-resizing, and embedded workflows across multiple screen sizes.

With that scale, edge case coverage wasn’t optional; one overlooked state could cascade across millions of sessions.

Optimizing After-Call Workflows: A Research-Led Discovery

I led a discovery initiative to understand and improve the After Call Work (ACW) experience for support agents.

Through in-depth interviews and workflow mapping with 7 agents, I identified pain points, quick wins, and deeper UX opportunities to reduce friction and increase efficiency in during-call & post-call tasks.

04 testimonials

Merve was a designer on one of my teams, and I would hire her again in a heartbeat. She was a cornerstone of the team. Merve sponsored team events, helped colleagues without being asked, and made a huge difference in our day-to-day team culture. I particularly appreciated her combination of hustle and polish; she wants to grow and learn, and she’s incredibly thorough with a high-degree of attention to detail. Merve’s projects are organized and easy to review even when juggling multiple pieces of work. She doesn’t just start things—she finishes them with quality and consistency.

I’m located in the United States while the entire team was based in Europe, and it was so nice to wake up every morning and see an active team chat, and Merve was a big part of that. She was active in our channels, quick to celebrate wins, planned team bonding activities, and just kept the conversation going. I would highly recommend her in any distributed environment. Her ability to foster genuine connection was a real differentiator. Any team would be lucky to have Merve!

Shiyuan Deng

Design Director | Genesys

Merve Koók is a pleasure to work with and she has good experience in UX and Web design solutions. She is an organized and customer-oriented perfectionist, has no problem working hard when necessary. Result-driven, experienced and efficient designer. Deliver results and move on. That's Merve Koók's way. I certainly would recommend her as a UX designer. 

Bulut Gok

Product Manager @Telesmart

I had an outstanding experience with my mentor, who excels in communication, motivation, and subject knowledge. She creates a comfortable environment for asking questions and provides clear, direct guidance, which helps me a lot. Her understanding of abroad work styles and the full design work cycle is valuable. I trust her vision and beliefs around work culture, and I wholeheartedly recommend booking a session with her.

Aysenur Oren

ADPList | Mentee

She is very kind and experienced in her field. She gives constructive feedback on my projects and helps me learn more about UX and plan my career path. We work step by step and focus carefully on every detail. She also answers my questions clearly. She is a great person, and I’m happy to learn from her.

Buse Arican

ADPList | Mentee

The session with Merve was extremely efficient and highly valuable. She shared her professional experience with me and gave great advice on how I can guide my career. Her approach was fully personalized – she listened carefully to my needs and current situation, which allowed her to offer thoughtful and practical advice. She is a mentor who truly wants to support and help young designers in their development.

Karolina Daniluk

ADPList | Mentee

Merve worked on my team while at Genesys and I was always impressed by her level of engagement with her peers, and with her work. She contributed significantly to UX meetings in the office, acting as a leader to gather community and to drive continued excellence in UX craft. She thrived while performing quick explorations in different product areas, unafraid to learn new techniques or to meet with new partners. She is a curious, positive person and I wish her success in her next role!

John Pettengill

Design Director | Genesys

It was a pleasure working with Merve. She is an energetic and proactive professional, always bringing great ideas to the team and willing to help whenever needed. She stands out technically, demonstrating exceptional attention to detail and a strong commitment to delivering high-quality results. We had the opportunity to collaborate on several projects, and her contributions were always outstanding. Even today, whenever I come across something she worked on, I know I can rely on the quality and thoroughness of her work.

Bruna Schmitz

Senior Product Designer | Genesys

Worked together with Merve on an NFT analytical software, built it up together from scratch. Merve has a special talent to design complete softwares beautifully, and one of my favorite things about her is the responsiveness and work ethic. Whatever part of the day it was, she was available, if something urgent came up, she was there and saved the day!

Robert Csala

Co-Founder of CyberBox

Merve is an absolute treasure, hard worker and one of the most reliable desingers I've worked with ever. You're lucky to get her attention as an employer and have her contribute in your team.

Adam Sal

CyberBox

Merve has been great to work with. She picks up on new things fast and is very patient when collaborating on product designs. In a startup environment where agility is key, Merve fits right in.

Peeter-Erik Kiis

Product Manager @UPSY

All my sessions with my mentor are very productive and enjoyable. By benefiting from her professional experience, I'm learning how to deal with the challenges I face in my career. The feedback I receive on my projects helps me gain deeper insights into UX. Most importantly, I feel motivated after each session. You're a great mentor! Thank you so much.

Naciye Okcu

ADPList | Mentee

I was very happy to talk with Merve. She was very helpful and gave useful advice! I have a lot of inspiration and ideas in my head after our meeting! Lot of things became more understandable!

Kate Soldatova

ADPList | Mentee

let's connect

Curious to collaborate?

I’m always open to thoughtful conversations and meaningful projects. Let’s explore what we can build together.